The mountains in the background are on the mainland of British Columbia. The waterway between the mainland and Vancouver Island has recently been renamed the Salish Sea to reflect the aboriginal heritage of the area.

Joe on the beach

After soaking up a (very) little sun on Qualicum Beach we turned north toward Union Bay. I spent an hour driving up and down tiny backroads trying to find the perfect shot of the Chrome Island lightstation. This is one of the few remaining manned lighthouses on the BC coast.

Friday evening I met up with my friends Maria and Clint at their friends' house in Union Bay. There I met Chris and she, Maria and I decided to join up for a few days ride up the Island. We planned to set out in the morning for Port Hardy which is about as far north as one can go and still be on pavement. Chris was riding a big cruiser so we'd be avoiding gravel the next few days. Joe was happy about that - he wasn't keen on the bumpy gravel roads.

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny and we set out for points north.

That's Maria on the KLR, me in the middle and Chris on the Road Star.

From Union Bay we followed the coast road to Campbell River where the sun disappeared. Being intrepid voyagers and Adventure Goddesses we decided to continue anyway We stopped at Seymour Narrows so I could take a picture to replace the botched one I had posted in an earlier ride report. I hate power lines in my pictures but this is about the only view one can get of the Narrows. Some day I'll get one in the sun and preferably with a cruise ship or other big ship in the middle

As we left Seymour Narrows it began to drizzle and it wasn't long before we had to pull over again to don rain gear. I wrapped Joe's kennel up in my towel so he could keep dry too.

Then the skies opened up and it began to pour! By the time we made it to Woss we decided it was time to warm up and dry out so we stopped at the pub there. I snuck Joe's kennel in the back door and stashed him under the table so he could warm up too. I think the owner knew but he turned a blind eye The owner was very friendly and he came over and talked to us about our journey and his own adventures. He was a really nice guy and the food was excellent too Much warmer and slightly drier we hit the soaking wet road again.

Great RR ... I hope to hear more about traveling with small dogs & have a small 7lb poodle that would love to hang out with me all day while I travel about.

Loved reading about Travels with Joe.

There's more to come on this RR and he'll be coming with me more often now. We're heading to WetFest in a couple of weeks which promises to be a bit of a WienerFest as well Watch for that RR in Cougar Tracks: Cowgirl gets Wet

That is one happy looking canine. Actually looks like you both might be enjoying your travels. Looking forward to more when it comes.

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2000 KLR650

There's roads and there's roads and they call, can't you hear it? Roads of the earth and roads of the spirit. The best roads of all are the ones that aren't certain. One of those is where you'll find me till they drop the big curtain. Bruce Cockburn